Thailand - Vacation from Traveling

Phuket, Thailand, the FINAL STOP on the Great Escape.

On my way to Phuket I had a stopover in Bangkok the vibrant capital of Thailand. Bangkok is a hive of activity and a feast for all the senses. I do love this city.

Phuket, on the other hand, is a tourist magnet for partying Europeans and certainly not one of the nicer parts of Thailand, however the diving is excellent! I dove for three days aboard Scuba Cat's great dive boat. The corals were bright and the fish abundant. Sweet! I ended the trip by attending a beach volleyball tourney (China beat May and Walsh in a great match) and then experienced Loi Kratong, a Thai festival where candles/flowers are floated in banana leaf baskets down any and all waterways. Magical!

A sweet end to an awesome trip.

Laos - Smiles and Relaxation

Laos is a pleasant country full of smiles and classic SE Asian rural scenery. Laos is still a very poor nation of rice fields and oxen, but the people are warm with laughter around each corner.

The Mekong and its flood waters are the heart of the country. As I flew in the entire country seemed to be under water with villages on tall posts connected by causeways. Children played in the flooded patties and oxen cool themselves in the mud while the people await planting as the revitalized soil is drained.

Luang Brabang, the focus of my visit is the wonderful ancient capital of Laos. The town in protected as a World Heritage City and despite many tourists has a lovely and relaxed atmosphere and great Laotian food. I will return to this lovely area in the future to ride bikes and travel down the Mekong...

Cambodia - History and Healing

In the tourist capital of Cambodia, Siem Reap, the brilliant ancient history of Cambodia shines. The Temples of Angkor are truly spectacular. There crumbling remnants represent a brilliant ancient culture. Angkor culture was greatly influenced by Indian religion and the fusion with Siam (Thai) art and design wonderful. Wandering the re-built and overgrown temples was a wonderful experience.

After all the temple climbing, I had legitimate (not "traditional") Khmer massage where elbows and incredibly strong fingers are used to crush your muscles into submission. In the end, the old saying "pain cures pain" seemed to hold true.

The Killing Fields memorial near Phnom Phen was a sobering reflection on the recent past. Cambodia is still facing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge and impacts of decades of political meddling of western powers. As a traveler, the resulting begging, touting and hassling is tough but it is worth it to support the Cambodian people.

Northern China - Warriors, Walls and Duck

Continuing north, we flew north to Xian's new airport (all Chinese airports seem to be new) . Here we spent four days, viewing the old city walls, temples and of course the Terra Cotta warriors. China has an incredible 5000+ years of imperial history, longer than Egypt, Greece and Rome we all learn in the west. The Chinese themselves are rediscovering their own heritage and expressing it through increased internal tourism, arts and cinema.

We finished China with a week in and around Beijing. We feasted on hot pot, visited Mao, shopped, saw a Kung-Fu show and experienced Chinese Opera. The hassles traveling in China are surprizingly few with friendly people and more English than I expected. Great trip! Check out the amazing photos with the link to the right.

Comment: China's 1.3 BILLION people are all striving to be part of the incredible economic growth here. Everything is new or under construction: roads, airports, buildings...amazing! On the down-side, there is smog and brown skies EVERYWHERE and stars are a rare site in most of eastern China. I hope that we can help China learns from our mistakes and or it may be to late for all of us!

Southern China - Balloons, Pandas and Spice

Our next leg took us whirlwind across southern China from Shenzen to Guilin/Yangshou and on to Chengdu. Shenzen is a frantic shopping and industrial area just across the border from Hong Kong (yes there is still a border as HK is a "special administrative region") where Hong Kongites go for fake hand bags, manicures and dentistry.

We took a sleeper train overnight (ok except for ubiquitous cigarette smoke) to Guilin, the area famed for the rugged limestone hills and green environment. We walked around Guilin's cliffside temples for a day and headed to the tourist mecca of Yangshou.

Yangshou is an old Chinese village that has grown from rustic backpacker hang-out to full fledged tourist town for both Chinese and foreigners. The main strip is full of music pumping bars, cafes, restaurants, and trinket shops. The experience was intensified as it was China's biggest tourist week: National Day. Despite the crowds, we stayed here five days and loved every minute. We took a river cruise, hiked, biked and took a sunrise balloon ride over the limestone cliffs. Truly beautiful place.

Out next stop was Chengdu where we visited a Panda sanctuary (more like a zoo) and saw six month old Panda cubs and their mothers amongst the 30 odd Pandas at the site. Chengdu is also in Sichuan where we feasted on famed spicy Sichuan dishes from restaurants and street markets.